I just want to say, I’m not inherently against Yelich being in the lineup. He’s been better over the last couple weeks than the rest of the year, and at least he’s batting 6th.
That said, I feel like Vaughn did everything he could this year to prove last year wasn’t fluky. He’s hitting .314 for the season. He gets on base 40% of the time. He has a 137 OPS+. His numbers are nearly identical to his numbers as a Brewer last year with a little less power but a little more OBP.
It’s not from just being protected by playing against lefties, either. He has considerably more plate appearances against righties than lefties this season and still has a highly respectable .289/.375/.404/.779 slash line against right handed pitching.
The fact that he has 130 less ABs this season than Christian Yelich (and Yelich didn’t even start til May, so the playing time differential is actually considerably more slanted), is just not something I agree with at all.